Rise of the Intelligence Agent
by KtyouUniverse
Summary: Not all heroes and villains are Jedi or Sith. Cipher 17 is an elite Republic agent whose sole loyalty is to Chancellor Palpatine. His role in the Sith's plan for galactic dominance could possible change the galaxy for good or for bad. This is an Canon story. Rated T for moderate language and other possible explicit content.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Dawn of the Assassin

July 4th, 2014

California, United States

Earth

Colby Thompson held the gun in his hand. It was a M1911, the standard gun in the United States Military for many decades. He held it straight and true, looking at the target in front of him.

"You can do it."

Colby turned his eyes to see his father. Although his father smiled at him, deep down, Colby knew that his father still had many things he did not like about his son, specifically, his crimson-red eyes. Colby had been born on July 7th, 2003. He was born with normally brown eyes as all babies. However, as time went on, his eyes turned an unnaturally dark red. Even though he was but a child, many people, including adults, felt uneasy when looked upon by those red eyes. He was also known to be an unusual child, being very quiet and spoke little; even he had a way with words. Apart from his unusual personality and eyes, he appeared normal other than that. His jet-black hair was long enough to cover his head, but not enough to give him any female looks. Even for his age, he was in excellent shape. He stood a few inches taller than most kids around his age. On his left eye, two angry scars crisscrossed. This seemed to only give him a more intimidating appearance. He was not, by any means, a rebellious child, nor was he a spiteful or angry child. He always kept a calm and collected attitude, and rarely ever displayed anger.

Remaining focused on the target, he narrowed his eyes on the target. Waiting a second, he pulled the trigger. The gun kicked back in his hands…and the bullet hit the target dead-center. Colby continued to unload the remaining rounds into the fragile target. Each round hit the intended target. As the last round exited the gun, he lifted the barrel up, blew some cool air, then observed the target board. What was once a intact target was now riddled with holes, each around the red center, where there lay several other holes.

"Good shooting," Colby's father commented.

"Thanks," Colby stated.

"We got to go to the match."

Colby paused to think. As long as he could remember, he had always fancied guns. From the first moment he had seen them on movies to his father showing him his collection, Colby found himself attached to firearms of all kinds. He knew that he would not be allowed to use them from a young age. His parents would go ballistic if he even considered asking them. He needed to come up with an alternative. To that end, while surfing on the internet one day, he found the perfect solution: paintball guns. Once he discovered this, he went to his parents to ask if he could participate. At the time, he was not yet old enough to go to the nearest matches. His mother, Katrina, was worried very much. She did not wish for him to even pick up any kind of firearm. His father, Paul, had been a former Marine in the United States Army. Ever since he retired to a relatively quiet life, he had been training Colby in everything he could. His father was really eager that Colby had discovered a fascination for guns. His father was able to persuade his reluctant mother to allow him to use guns. Ever since then, his father had taught him how to hold a gun, how to aim, how to shoot, how to build and maintain one, everything Colby would need to know. Since then, Colby had become quite the marksmen and had begun taking up sniping.

"Yeah, I'm coming. Competition is fun."

"Then get ready. We got to go."

Kyle handed the gun to his father, then wasted no time in getting ready for the match. He grabbed his two pistols, clamping them onto two custom-made holsters made for his last birthday. He grabbed extra ammunition, cartridges, and made sure to double and triple check all his gear. With that, he began to make his way to his dad's truck. They were off quickly. As they drove to the paintball competition, Colby's mind was suddenly…

_I feel…hesitant_

For some reason, his body was ready for this, but his mind was telling him to back down from this one. He realized that he needed to force himself to forget about his hesitancy before his father looked over and begin wondering what he was thinking about. He turned his head to look out the window to look at the busy streets. As they moved more towards the suburban area, the crowds changed accordingly. The truck stopped in front of a large dome arena. Without wasting a moment, he opened the door, not even bothering to close the door. With quick strides, he made his way into the building, having to wait for his father to register and confirm. He was then put into the waiting area with the other competitors. All of them sported different gear. All were loaded. Once the alarm was sounded, everyone spread out. The dome was large enough to provide for a battleground that was large enough to support all players without crowding problems. Despite the relatively large range, Colby was not concerned. He always played these games smart, not hard.

He waited patiently for the game to start, then he took a quick look around the corner to see if anyone was there. He saw someone's helmet and quickly moved out of the way as he felt some shots whiz by his head. Taking a chance, he quickly unloaded one of his pistols into the place where he thought the person was. Seeing no one, he quickly returned to cover, only to find another person there. Thinking quickly, he took a blind shot. His shot flew straight and true, hitting the person in the chest. The opponent immediately held his hands up.

"I'm hit!"

With that, the player turned to exit the arena. Colby immediately resumed his attention to the battle. Colby, from his viewpoint, could make out others firing at an unseen target. Using what little visibility he could, he fired off a couple of rounds. The player he was firing at saw him and rapidly fired off rounds. One round hit him in the head, cracking against his helmet, but before he could respond to being hit, a smoke grenade hit him. There was a crack in his helmet, and he coughed, trying to respond, but before he could, he felt another impact against his head. He stayed conscious long enough to feel himself hit the ground, but then, he blacked out…

* * *

Coruscant

28 BBY

From his vantage point, Palpatine could see everything. Coruscant was bustling as always. Many speeders and shipped filled the sky like a never-ending rain. He remained calm and composed, observing all of this, but inside, his mind. He knew there was still much to be done. He had been planning slowly and surely for the Clone Wars. So far, the clone army was advanced rapidly. The order would be met on time. Everything was proceeding as planned. As patient as he was, Palpatine found himself longing for time to pass, but he knew that patience was key to victory. As long as he was patient and waited for opportunities to present themselves, he would seize them.

Palpatine reflected on what had been accomplished in the last few years. Ever since his ascension to the office of Chancellor, he had done much. With the death of his apprentice, Darth Maul, and him killing his master, Darth Plagueis, he had much work to do. The first order of business was to seek a new apprentice, and luckily, he did not have to do much to find one. Rather, it came to him. Count Dooku, ever since the death of Darth Maul, had been paranoid about the threat of the Sith, but the Jedi Council dismissed it and believed that now, it was of no concern. Palpatine had been pleased with this. With the Jedi Council's attention focused elsewhere, he seized his chance to lure Dooku to the dark side. That had been relatively easy. He merely played on Dooku's desires. From the start, their relationship was shaky; Dooku believed them to be equal partners, but Palpatine knew that such a thing could not happen. He was quick to establish his role as the superior one, the Master. Slowly, but surely, Dooku had submitted, proving himself by killing his close friend, Sifo Dyas. He had granted Dooku the title, Darth Tyranus. From there, his apprentice had begun the task of selecting an ideal candidate to form the Grand Army of the Republic. An ideal candidate was found: Jango Fett, a Mandalorian bounty hunter. Since then, the production of clones had begun. With each day, the army was growing. Still, this army was but one of the many tools that Palpatine needed to establish himself. He needed operatives and assassins that could act where armies could not. They needed to be well-trained, intelligent, and utterly obedient to him until death.

Suddenly, Palpatine's pondering was cut off by a strange feeling. He had sensed a surge within the Force. It was as if the Force was committing acts itself.

"Chancellor, is there something that you require?"

Palpatine did not turn to face Mas Amedda. He did not need to.

"Prepare my shuttle."

* * *

Colby eyes flickered open. The first thing that came to his attention that the sky seemed unnaturally beautiful and peaceful. Ignoring the pain, he raised himself and took in his surroundings. He then quickly realized that he still wore his helmet. He then began to listen for any gun fire. There was none. There was not a sound to be heard. Then, he heard some chirping. That was enough to make him rip his helmet off. He could he be hearing birds? He was inside. He quickly removed his helmet and tossed it aside. He quickly rose to his feet. What he saw net took his breath away.

He appeared to be on some cliff. It was not particularly high, but it was enough to warrant him quite the spectacular view. For as far as the eye could see, he saw a mixed landscape of green, white, and grey. Despite not being new to nature, this sight was by far, the most interesting and most beautiful.

_Where am I…_

_To be continued…_

_I'll give you three guess as to where he is_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Discovery

From his view, Colby overlooked the terrain, both awed and confused simultaneously. How had he gotten here, from a paintball arena to…

_Where have I seen this before?_

He began to think about it. First, he considered all the places that he had gone with his life. Although his family often travelled outside the country, this place did not bear any resemblance to any place on Earth, but then again, he had not been to all the places on Earth.  
_Where else could I…_

Although it was against his better judgment, he began to sift through everything he had: fantasy, reality, at this point, anything was a possibility. Although a very realistic person, Colby knew the importance of fantasy. Fantasy was what allowed people to become more innovative and to challenge the limits of possibility. Often, the impossible could become possible with time, patience, and persistence. Video games, movies, books, and art were just many of the ways that one could escape the narrow confines of reality. Despite the joy of fantasy, Colby knew, however, that in order to extend the rules and borders of reality, one must know the rules from the inside out, know them by instinct, and be able to answer any and all questions concerning it. Once a person could do that, they were free to bend the rules and change what was possible and impossible.

As Colby sifted through what knowledge he processed, he felt mixed reactions. Many of the memories and things he carried were both beautiful and repulsive simultaneously. It was both useful and useless. It was both interesting and boring. It was both realistic and unrealistic. His earliest memories were that of him as an infant. He remembered how he stumbled, how he fell, how he did things that his parents scolded him for, how he learned to walk, how to talk, how to do the basic necessities of life. His thoughts turned to the numerous movies and books he had read. To Colby, movies, in a way, were merely visual manifestations of books. Books provided more entertainment, more room for imagination. Movies, however, could rival books. Movies, like books, were simply another way to express fantasy. It just accomplished it a different way.

Suddenly, Colby's mind came upon something similar to the view that he saw. It was from a movie, but he had also seen it from a video game. Although the two were different in terms of the time frame, they had some things in common. They were of the same title ad legacy, and its name was one that he was all-too familiar with: Star Wars.

_Okay, so what is this planet?_

There were so many planets in the Star Wars Universe. Even with his vast knowledge of the Star Wars universe, he knew only a fraction of the planets. The source of his knowledge came from his friend, Howard. He was a huge Star Wars fan, and knew everything there was to know about it. As much as Colby liked his friend, he did not like it when his friend made these long talks about Star Wars trivia. However, Colby realized that this stuff stuck to him more that he liked to admit. Sometimes, his friend would list the names of planets and give important information about them. Colby was familiar with planets like Tatooine, Naboo, Coruscant, Geonosis. Mustufar, and Alderaan. Anything from the movies was common knowledge to Colby. The other planets were things to find in the video games. Colby, at any other time, would have dismissed this information as nothing more than trivial, and that it would never be put to good use.

No. What was he thinking? How could this be possible?

Still shaking his head, he made his way down the hill. His pondering left him clueless to the many obstacles in his path. Tripping on a rock, he fell face-down onto the hill, sputtering ann cursing to himself. He got up and made his way down to the bottom of the hill. From there, he scanned the horizon, looking for any sign of civilization. Something in the distance caught his attention. It looked like some sort of structure, maybe a tower of some sort.

* * *

Palpatine waited patiently as his shuttle approached his destination. Palpatine could sense something. It was unusual. He could not put his finger down on what it was though. What he did know was that whatever had caused the disturbance in the force was nothing to be ignored. Deciding to track down the source of the disturbance, he requested for his private shuttle. For those who wished to see him, he left one of his representatives to say that he was away on very important business. Once within the space that surrounded Coruscant, he began to reach out with his senses. There was so much he had to sift through in order to narrow down the possible planets that this unusual feeling was coming from.

* * *

Colby clawed his way up the steep Cliffside. It was dangerous enough to be climbing cliffs without the proper climbing equipment. He did not look down. At this height, if he lost his grip, it could cause a severe injury, and possibly a fatal one. With this in mind, he continued to find another place to get a grip and pull himself up. A sharp pain went through his body as he grabbed a jagged sliver of rock that his hand touched. Instead of checking to see if he was okay, he forced himself to ignore the pain and continue. As he moved his right hand up to find another place to grip, he saw a streak of blood where his hand once was. Gazing at it for a short second, he looked up, trying to judge the distance to the top. He could not tell, nor did he really have the patience to even guess a number.

_I just wanted to have a good day, and now, I might die._

After a half-hour, Colby found himself still struggling on the cliff. At this point, he was exhausted and drained. If this kept up, he wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer. Not only that, but he had received several other cuts. Cursing silently, he forced himself to continue on. This was getting nowhere. He didn't even know where he was. He was climbing to who knows where, with no idea of what to do if the cliff…

Colby's hand felt something flat. That realization made him forget his frustration and continue to pull himself up. His left hand also felt a flat surface. Feeling a surge of hope, he used what remained of his energy to get up. With a final grunt, his feet found the ground. As soon as they did, he hit the ground, pale from exhaustion and pain. All he wanted to do now was to wake up. Maybe this was a dream. Maybe the day hadn't actually started. This had to be a dream. Dreams had a way with people. Sometimes, whole adventures in books and movies were nothing more than dreams. It had to be that. There was no way possible that this could be real.

_Wake up. You're dreaming. None of this is real._

For a moment, the only thing that Colby wanted to do was sleep, or wake up. His exhaustion was nowhere near gone. His whole body was screaming with pain. Even while "resting" on the ground, his whole body was tensed up. Being tensed up made any surface seem soft. He did not mind lying on the ground.

After fifteen minutes, he decided to rouse himself. He slowly rose to his feet with a bit more energy than before. As he moved, something in his pocket shuffled around. Colby reached into his right pocket and brought his iPod Touch out. He just stared at it longingly. He did not know why, but for some reason, this device was suddenly the most important thing in the whole world. He needed to protect it. He could listen to some songs later when he got home.

_Or if I get home._

_\ _He put the iPod back into his pocket and looked up for the first time since arriving at the top of the cliff. The large structure looked to be a start. It looked like it was too old to have been used recently, but it would provide at least a clue as to where to go next. As he approached it, he began to see things shifting. Stopping, he turned his head to gaze at his surroundings. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but that was not enough. Paranoia taking over, he scanned each and every object within his view. Nothing was below his attention. When he found nothing out of the ordinary, he double and triple checked his surroundings. He continued towards the structure, keeping himself on high alert. As is this was not enough, his mind suddenly began to swirl with thoughts that were not previously there.

_The Jedi are the enemy._

_ The Galactic Republic must die._

_ Destroy them both._

_ Long live the Sith._

When he was withing reaching distance, Colby reached an arm out to the structure. His fingers brushed gently across the aging surface. For a moment, nothing happened, but suddenly, the structure began to flicker and suddenly winked out of existence. Confusion htting him, he turned to look around. Everything in sight was disappearing. It was replaced by a dark world. Nothing but clouds, dark skies, thunder, and lightning covered the skies. The structure was replaced with an even-larger structure. For some reason, this one looked strangely familiar.

_Please don't tell me this is where I think it is…_

To be continued…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Welcome to the Dark Temple

_Well, this just got from bad to worse in a heartbeat_

Colby knew exactly where he was: Dromund Kaas, the capitol of the former Sith Empire. That era was, if he recalled correctly, over three thousand and three hundred years before the rise of the Galactic Empire. This place in the games was a boring place, a place where no one

His thoughts were stopped when he began to hear something behind him. He turned his head to find a huge creature headed his way. It was a red-brown color with horns and really big arms, and it was not far away. Thinking quickly, Colby remained completely still. He dared not move a muscle because he would be easily spotted, and he had no weapons on him, at least none that would do any damage. His crimson eyes kept watch on the creature as walked rather slowly by him, observing its surroundings and occasionally making a grunt or a soft roar. Colby felt tensed and fear. This was nothing compared to the games. This thing was alive and real. He didn't know how it would react in real life; the games certainly didn't give him anything to help him either. They were games, and in this case, very bad ones.

_Carefully_

Once he was certain that the creature couldn't see him, he began to silently move towards what appeared to be a forest, where he would at least be able to be stealth-like. Keeping his eyes peeled, he moved rapidly but rather quietly out of the open area.

_The Jedi are the enemy._

_ The Galactic Republic must die._

_ Destroy them both._

_ Long live the Sith._

This time, the voices did more than sound in his head; they were somehow painful. Colby began to hold his head and groan in pain. His cries lasted only for a few seconds before they stopped. That was enough time for many of the creatures in the area to hear him and move towards him. With the element of stealth gone, Colby did the only thing he knew to do: run. He took off in a sprint. The creatures followed suit, not letting up one bit. Trying not to look back, Colby made for the forest where he hoped to climb a tree and lose them. He began to feel his lungs getting tired. He couldn't keep this up for long. Another minute or two was all he was going to get of running. His running was stopped as he stumbled and tripped over a stone in his way. He collapsed on his stomach, hitting the ground hard. He once again cried out in pain. As he struggled to get up, the pain only intensified. He could hear the creatures bearing down on him. Fear grasping him, he got up, feeling the pain even more, but his mind decided that pain was a reasonable tradeoff in exchange for life. As he quickly rose, he began to take off. Colby turned his head to see where his pursuers were. He then admonished himself for not paying attention to what was in front of him. Just as he turned to resume looking forward, another creature stood in his way. He didn't bother to take a look, he dove to the right, which forced him to go the place where he didn't want to go: the Dark Temple. He considered going back, then the pain began to kick in again. That, coupled with the fact that there was a whole group of wild ravenous animals on his trail convinced him to head into the temple. It was a suicide run. If he went into the temple, he wondered what would happen first: be killed or his mind overtaken by one of the dead Sith Lords in the temple, but there was that or gets mauled by everything outside. He had no intention of dying and eaten. He would rather die whole rather than be ripped to pieces. Putting everything he had in his pained body, he entered the Dark Temple, not even bothering to check for any dangers. He just ran up the stairs and into the main chamber, which was deserted and unsettlingly quiet. He stopped, looking for a place to hide. There was no place to hide. He turned his head slightly to hear for anything behind him. Strangely, there was not a sound. Maybe the creatures had lost the desire to get him, or maybe they were influenced by the temple. Either way, Colby didn't like it. Not wanting to let his guard down for even a second, he moved quickly from the large open room and moved to the walls. The pains from his injuries were getting worse, and it wasn't like there was 911 to call or a person to shout to for help. He was on his own, but how long did he have?

_No. I…will…not…die…_

Forcing the pain out of his mind, he proceeded to walk, searching for something that could be useful, but he did not know what he could possibly use. There was nothing in the temple, and no one around either. In the game, Colby remembered more people in here, and possibly a chance to find a weapon, but that time was long ago. The interior was much darker and more ancient than he remembered seeing it. Thousands of years without a single presence weren't making the already-aging structure any younger. Stones and rock were scattered everywhere, bones were scattered, most of them humanoid-shaped. Whispers and voices were very faint, which made the atmosphere all the more menacing. The only thing inside that remained relatively intact was the center statue. Despite the stone's extremely advanced age, the structure remained intact and the details were also somewhat visible.

Judging by the advanced age of the structure and the surrounding bones and emptiness began a flood of questions in Colby's mind.

_Why is it abandoned?_

_ What year is it?_

_ How did I get here?_

_ Why here?_

With these fresh in mind, Colby continued upstairs, where more bones lay. He was careful to watch his step for fear of the stone collapsing beneath his feet. Once at the top, he observed the ground floor from the top level. Then, his pain resumed, which forced him to double down in pain. It was becoming unbearable to the point of being numb. He had lost a substantial amount of blood. Without help, he would pass out and it wasn't likely that anyone would find him. When the pain stopped, he saw something in the atmosphere. From his pain came what appeared to be energy, like something a force user would use. Struggling to focus his eyes, he saw the energy move to a door. Curious whether this was the cause of his pain, he moved to intercept the energy. The door appeared to be once sealed with a torch, but years of exposure had caused the door to rust away. Colby gently brushed his gloved hand over the door. Without warning the door came to life, lighting up a crimson red to match his own red eyes. Slowly, but surely, the doors parted for him, opening three meters, then coming to a halt.

_Wait, what am I doing?_

Colby knew this was likely a trap, but it wasn't like there was much else to do, and at this point, there was little to do now, seeing as he was dying slowly.

_Maybe a Sith Lord spirit will end the suffering fast._

Clinging to the last hope that maybe he was dreaming, he followed the energy as at weaved its way throughout the halls, and rooms of the tomb. He still watched for signs of danger, even though the effort was not really worth it. For five minutes, he did nothing but follow the energy, hoping it would lead him to something that would end the dream or maybe his life. Finally, the energy vanished, but it had vanished in a large room. The room looked rather ornate. Armor hung from posts, the walls were decorated with carvings and writings. It was surprisingly orderly and nothing seemed to be out of place. Colby's eyes rested on what appeared to be a coffin. Without hesitation, he made his way to the coffin, completely unaware that a pair of eyes were watching him. As he stopped in front of the coffin, he turned, sensing something unusual, but there was nothing.

Dismissing it, he turned back front only to see a Sith Ghost coming for him. He dind't have enough time to react as he felt himself lift off the floor. He hit the ceiling hard. He did not scream. He merely took the pain to his head. He the felt himself being hurtled down the ground. Screaming with pain, he could only kneel as he felt a force constricting his throat. His first instinct was to go for his throat, but that wouldn't work, so he surrendered to the pain without resistance. His eyes showed no fear, only anticipation for death…

_To be continued…_


End file.
